Carter told Ward's Auto the electric crossover will initially be sold exclusively in the Golden State. Carter didn't reveal much else, but he did mention that electric vehicles are low-volume and, as Ward's Auto says, "of only regional interest at this point."

Could it be that Toyota only intends to sell the RAV4 EV in California? We doubt it, but we wouldn't be at all surprised if Toyota offers the RAV4 EV on some sort of limited, state-by-state rollout, similar to the U.S. launches of the Nissan Leaf and the Ford Focus Electric.

Reported comments and users are reviewed by Autoblog staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week to determine whether they violate Community Guideline. Accounts are penalized for Community Guidelines violations and serious or repeated violations can lead to account termination.

Nice!!! Only states that adopt California's CARB standards are going to get any Toyota EVs for the foreseeable future. How sad. Why don't they just put up a sign that says "F you EVs. We're just hear to meet some mandate."

Now it's the same old song But with a different meaning Since you been gone It's the same old song But with a different meaning Since you been gone A sentimental fool am I to hear a old love song And wanna cry But the melody keeps haunting me Reminding me how in love we used to be Keep hearing the part that used to touch my heart Saying together forever Breaking up never It's the same old song But with a different meaning Since you been gone It's the same old song But with a different meaning Since you been gone These not available beyond CA announcements are getting...

NAILED IT!!! California's neighbor, Oregon, is gaga for electric cars, particularly the Portland area. If they haven't crunched the numbers and came to the conclusion to sell to my state, then they are lying through their teeth.

This quote "of only regional interest at this point." is quite strange. Bob Carter, representing Toyota, must be referring to Toyota's marketing perspective, that is Toyota is only interested in a single region. Certainly from the customer point of view, the interest is continent wide. Much as we dislike it, the reality is that introductions for essentially unknown new technology is easier to handle if done slowly in confined areas. Toyota will wait until they have their own new advanced electric drive train, or gain confidence in Tesla's ability to provide high volume before they go nation wide.

This story makes no sense. Toyota will be building the RAV4 EV in Ontario, Canada. That's a long way to build a car that would only get sold in California. Toyota wants to make money, so I'm sure they'll sell each one they can produce. This is not another BMW/Mini trial scheme...I hope. Toyota have been misquoted recently, so until we get it from an official press release, I'd take this with a grain of salt.

In Silicon valley, I see more than one Leaf per day and a Volt at at least 4 times per week. Can you say that where you live and work? I can understand that Toyota wants to concentrate its efforts where there are the most interested customers. They are building the RAV4 EV in Ontario because that's where they build ALL the North America bound RAV4's. Building it anywhere else is not practical - even with the transportation costs for the finished cars.

While there may well be more 'interested customers' in CA, the fact that you see them is, I believe, due as much to the fact that CA has been the perennial early launch market for each of those vehicles as to the potential market share.

I'll be at EVS26 presenting a paper from 4:30 to 6:00 on Monday, May 7, entitled "A Pedestrian Warning System fro Hybrid and Electric Vehicles" and it works with any car that has an OBD-II connector, like this RAV4 EV Jim Dunn